EPL 2016/17: Harry Redknapp reveals he almost signed Luis Suarez and Eden Hazard while managing Tottenham
Former Tottenham manager, Harry Redknapp has revealed that he was close to signing world-class football superstars, Luis Suarez and Eden Hazard, during his spell at White Hart Lane.
Harry Redknapp was responsible for the London club finishing 4th in the English Premier League in the 2009-2010 season. The English manager also won his first and only Premier League Manager of the Year award that season, guiding Spurs to a Champions League berth.
Despite Redknapp leading Spurs to two 4th-place finishes in three seasons at White Hart Lane, the 69-year-old was sacked after failed contract negotiations with the club.
Also read: Chelsea have a weaker first team than Tottenham claims former manager Harry Redknapp
Before Eden Hazard joined Chelsea in the summer of 2012 from Lille and Luis Suarez departed Ajax FC to join the Reds in 2011, Redknapp revealed that both footballers could have ended up at White Hart Lane.
Speaking to Jim White on talkSPORT Redknapp said, “I was managing a Tottenham team that I thought could go on and win the title, I genuinely believed that.”
Redknapp’s belief aside, the Englishman had only managed to sign Ryan Nelson and Louis Saha on a free transfer instead. “I took Louis Saha and Ryan Nelsen on free transfers (on February 1, 2012) – we were short, we had injuries at centre-half, and I had no striker. If we had gone out (and invested) then Luis Suarez was a player that we were looking at,” he claimed.
He also revealed that he spent several hours with Eden Hazard discussing his future in Paris and that the Belgian was very keen on coming to the London club. “I spent three hours with Hazard in a hotel room in Paris, I met him at the airport he was dead keen to come to Tottenham.”
The English manager firmly believes that had Hazard and Suarez joined him at Tottenham, he could have turned Spurs into genuine title challengers.
“We were right down the road with Hazard, and Luis Suarez was the best player in the Premier League a few years ago when he was at Liverpool, he was fantastic. If we just got one of those in, we had a team that could have challenged for the title,” he concluded.
Also read: What if: Tottenham had beaten Chelsea and won the English Premier League last season
Luis Suarez, after his transfer to FC Barcelona, has transformed into one of the best strikers in world football at the moment. Eden Hazard, meanwhile, is currently lighting up the English Premier League with his goals and skills helping Chelsea stay at the top of the Premier League table.
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